Dedicated to the Business of Contemporary Live Music
THE COMPETITION and Markets Authority (CMA) has ruled that controversial ticket resale website Viagogo must sell off its StubHub business outside North America, concluding a 14-month enquiry. The investigation took evidence from live music promoters and venue operators, fans, competitors and artiste managers. The merger, which has been on hold,…
Read moreTICKET-BUYERS who placed a £50 deposit on a ticket to Glastonbury Festival (cap. 147,500) in October 2019 have been offered the chance to roll it over for another year as the event announced it was cancelled a second time due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, father and daughter…
Read moreLive Nation Entertainment (LNE) CEO Michael Rapino says he expects the company to bounce back strongly next year, despite the dramatic but expected fall in third quarter (Q3) revenue. He says 80 per cent of LNE’s shows have been rescheduled rather than cancelled and eight per cent of fans globally…
Read moreLIMITED CAPACITY shows are one of the entertainment options available for participants of Independent Venue Week (IVW), set to take place from 25 to 31 January, its eighth year. Last January, participating venues were encouraged to host all-day events or a full week of shows, with 230 small to medium-sized…
Read moreWORK WILL begin In March on the new 12,500-capacity arena in Gateshead’s quayside, adjacent to the Millennium bridge over the River Tyne. The £260 million development of the site has been approved by Gateshead Council and will include conference and exhibition centre, restaurants, a hotel and the arena, to be…
Read morePROMOTER AEG Presents is to operate a new 4,400-capacity live music venue at Olympia London, part of a £1.3 billion ($1.7bn) regeneration of the exhibition, events and conference complex, Sister company AEG Global Partnerships, both divisions of venue owner AEG, will oversee all naming rights and partnership deals for the…
Read moreTHE SITE of former 300-capacity music venue The Standard (cap. 300) in Walthamstow is to be redeveloped into a nine-storey accommodation, bar and restaurant complex with a 350-capacity live performance space. Called The Collective Blackhorse Lane and located opposite London’s Blackhorse Road underground station, the complex is due to be…
Read moreLIVE NATION Entertainment (LNE) has been chosen to jointly run the NEW 15,000-capacity Cardiff Arena, along with Oak View Group, the US company which is planning to build a new arena in Manchester. Both companies will invest £10 million in the project, which will cost about £150m to build. Expected…
Read moreAGENT FOR artistes including Idles, First Aid Kit and Chvrches, Natasha Bent, has left Paradigm Talent Agency to launch an agency and management operation with her brother, Mark Bent. Bent joined the UK office of Paradigm (formerly Coda Music Agency) in 2016 after eight years with The Agency Group, now…
Read moreA CRIMINAL investigation in the US into unfair competition by Live Nation Entertainment-owned ticketing multi-national Ticketmaster (TM) has been resolved with the payment of a $10 million (£7.33m) fine. The payment represents the final chapter in a dispute lasting over five years with now-defunct newcomer Songkick, which provided direct-to-fan services…
Read moreED SHEERAN’S agent Jon Ollier (pictured) has left CAA and launched his own booking operation, One Fiinix Live (OFL). He tells LIVE UK that, unlike in sports, television or film, the business models of music agencies remained largely unchanged for “a generation” before coronavirus. OFL will represent music artistes in…
Read moreNATIONAL PROMOTER and production company has acquired Cambridge festivals Strawberries & Creem (cap, 10,000) and The Cambridge Club (5,000) from S&C Productions for an unspecified sum. Taking first step into the greenfield festival sector, Senbla says it intends to expand the events’ capacities, expand them from single to multi-day events…
Read moreNOT SURPRISINGLY, Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) was unable to give an opening date during a virtual launch of 3,000-capacity The Globe, in Stockton-on-Tees. Facilities at the venue, which has had a £28 million refurbishment funded by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, with support from a £4.5m National Lottery grant, include an orchestra…
Read moreTHE PHASE 2 in-depth investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into Viagogo’s $4.05 billion (£2.91bn) acquisition of StubHub has resulted in a provisional decision that the merger would be anti-competitive. The CMA said potential options for addressing its concerns include requiring Viagogo to sell all or part of…
Read moreARTS COUNCIL England is distributing funds totaling £333 million to 1,973 cultural entities, including venues, festivals and promoters, as part of the Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund. The first round of grants, announced on 12 October saw £257m awarded, with the second round on 19 October seeing a further £76m allocated….
Read moreOAK VIEW Group (OVG) has been given planning permission to build a 23,500-capacity arena in Manchester’s Etihad Campus, which will be named Co-op Live. The £350 million venue, located next to Manchester City football club’s Etihad Stadium (cap. 63,000) in the Eastlands area of Manchester, will compete directly with the ASM…
Read moreAFTER YEARS of controversy surrounding its name, Bristol’s Colston Hall has chosen a new one, Bristol Beacon, with immediate effect. Previously named after 17th century slave trader and philanthropist Edward Colston, the hall launched a consultation on the issue in 2017, which has involved 4,000 people and several live events….
Read moreTHE MAYOR of London has given grants totaling £178,446 direct to 14 London venues, taken from the £450,000 of grassroots venues funding announced in May (see LIVE UK news) as earmarked for the Music Venue Trust (MVT). These are the first of 141 grassroots venues in the capital identified for…
Read moreTHE DEPARTMENT for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) has awarded over £1 million more to small venues than the £2.25 million it pledged in July. Venues receiving grants of between £1,000 and £80,000 include London’s The Troubadour (cap. 135), Birmingham’s The Sunflower Lounge (120) and Think Tank? (200) in…
Read morePAN-EUROPEAN festival and concert promoter FKP Scorpio has hired former DHP Family executives Scott O’Neill and Daniel Ealam. The duo will join Barry Campbell and James Cassidy on the board of FKP Scorpio UK, which was launched in 2008. Its recent projects include arena tours of BBC Earth nature documentaries,…
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